


Hair

by tropic_equator



Category: Eyeshield 21
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Gen, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Genderswap, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 19:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tropic_equator/pseuds/tropic_equator
Summary: "It's quite a bad break-up. My manager didn't take it very well. But I'm ready to be in a new relationship now."Fem!Sakuraba. Hints of TakaSaku.





	Hair

**Author's Note:**

> If Koizumi Karin can canonically played in a match with all the boys, then we can agree that Amefuto teams could be co-ed, at least in ES21-verse. I'm just saying that ES21 could have more female football player characters.

Sakuraba Haruko had hair that was probably the envy of many teenage girls in Japan. Long and blonde, soft and shiny and fluttering with each step that she took. Her hair had been voted as one of her best features by her fans and she took good care of it. Never dull, never get tangled, absolutely no split-ends. 

The image that she projected was one of effortless beauty, but in reality a lot of work and care regiments went into maintaining her hair. Especially considering that she was in a sport like American Football. Dirt, dust, grimes, and sweat had dirtied her hair.

The length of her hair could be bothersome. Her hair reached near her hair and before every single practice, she needed to do something to get it out of her way.

Tied it up. Braid it. Put it into a bun atop her head. 

Not to mention that an opponent could easily grab it to stop her.

It had been around an hour since she put the resignation letter on her manager's desk. It had been an hour since she ran back in the rain to the locker room in Oujou. She had a pair of scissors in her hand, the mirror above the sink reflected her face. 

Sakuraba took a deep breath. Now or never, before she chickened out. 

The  _ snip-snip-snip  _ sound of scissors hacking away at her hair filled the empty locker room. Blonde hair fell into the sink and onto the floor. she kept her eyes down, didn't dare to look at her reflection in the mirror, using only her hands to guide the scissors.

When she thought it was enough, she put the scissors down and lifted up her eyes.

The person in the mirror looked like a stranger. A familiar stranger with her general facial features but a bad haircut that could have sent her ex-manager into coma if he saw it. The haircut was uneven, too long and too short in some places. It reached only the nape of her nape, didn't even brush the top of her shoulders, a far cry from her previous waist-length blonde tresses. 

Sakuraba grinned.  _ I can't be an idol anymore after this.  _

Her head felt lighter, and so did her heart. She ran a hand through her new hair.  _ Yeah, there's no going back.  _

She should probably clean up the mess that she just made. There were so many strands of hair strewn in the sink and on the floor around her. Sakuraba gathered all of them and put them in the nearest trash can. She found a broom in closet meant for cleaning supplies and swept the rest that she couldn't pick up away.

"Who is still here--Oh, hey, Sakuraba--."

Sakuraba whirled around to the direction of the voice. Takami-san had one hand on the handle of the door. His eyes widening behind his glasses as he took in her new appearance. 

"Takami-san, you haven't gone home? It's late."

"I stayed back to do some more research on the other teams for our upcoming matches. What are you doing here? And your hair."

"Oh, this?" Sakuraba touched her hair. "I guess I just wanted to change my look."

"What's the occasion? Did you break up with someone?" The corner of his mouth twitched upward into a small smile as he said that.

"You could say that. I resigned from my management."

His eyes widened at that. "Really."

"Yes," she said. She tucked her scissor (safety cap on) into the pocket of her jeans and walked toward him. "It's quite a bad break-up. My manager didn't take it very well. But I'm ready to be in a new relationship now."

She looked at him square in the eyes. Takami-san adjusted his glasses. He was smiling.

"Is that so? Go home now and get some rest. We will be practicing early tomorrow."

"Yes, senpai. I will definitely be there."

Her legions of fanboys were gone when she stepped into the field with her new look. No use staying here when she could no longer fit the image of the ideal girl in their head, they all had said. 

Sakuraba found that she didn't care about that. Not when Torakichi shouted the loudest as she held up the wristband that he had given her. Not when Takami-san looked at her with pride as she caught his Everest Pass. Not when the coach remarked that she was finally becoming the athlete that he had waited for all these years.

Sakuraba's hair eventually grew to a shoulder-length, still choppy and uneven in some places. She trained hard, played her best, caught passes after passes. 

Torakichi once rammed his wheelchair into a guy in the audience member who remarked  _ what a waste, now she's all ugly _ . "Haru-nee is still the prettiest and you are stupid and ugly and mean!" he had shouted. "She won't go out with you anyway, not when she has someone like Takami-san beside her!"

Sakuraba nearly died from embarrassment. Takami-san just calmly adjusted his glasses and chuckled, looking cool and unaffected. "So this is what you mean by new relationship, hm?"

"You know I'm talking about football," she said, face still red. 

"Maybe it can be both," he said quietly under his breath that she almost missed it.

"What's that?"

"Nothing. We better get ready. The second half will be starting soon."

"Yes! Let's go!"

Sakuraba's hair eventually grew past her shoulders. She didn't cut it this time, merely braid it and tucked it securely against her scalp with pins before she put on her helmet. Sometimes when she was jogging alone, she let it loose and the wind felt nice as her strands of her hair flew around her face. 

Her head felt lighter, her hair didn't seem to weigh her down as much as before. 

**Author's Note:**

> The good thing about re-visiting old fandoms is that I finally have adequate writing skill to contribute fanfics to them.


End file.
